At the Daytime Emmy Awards in 2002, GUIDING LIGHT's 50th television anniversary was celebrated. Kim Zimmer (Reva) and Robert Newman (Josh) introduced a nice clip package, then several current and former cast members were brought on stage with Ruby Dee (Martha) escorting to the front the original Bill Bauer, Lyle Sudrow, who played the role on the radio version of the show starting in 1948 joining the original TV cast in 1952.While it may not be perfect, this is the type of tribute I expected this year for ALL MY CHILDREN and ONE LIFE TO LIVE at the Daytime Emmys. Granted, the Emmys aired on CBS in 2002 and the network had more incentive to celebrate one of its own shows. When GL was canceled the Emmys brought on Betty White to introduce a shorter clip package for the show followed by bringing cast members on stage. An unaired four-minute tribute clip was released on the internet after the ceremony.
Watch the 2002 Emmys clip below followed by the 2009 celebration of GUIDING LIGHT and this year's AMC/OLTL tribute: